Share This Article
Some icons are disliked by users, they complain if the icon is ambiguous, unattractive, or that they can’t put their finger on what they don’t like about it. The cause is simple: one or more fundamental principles of icon building are broken in such symbols. The following concepts apply to all types of icons and can be applied to both website and application icons.
What are the most important guidelines for generating universally appealing icons?
- Conciseness
Users despise convoluted interfaces. A good icon should be straightforward and easy to understand. There is no need for a textual explanation. You can put the icon to the test by displaying it to someone who isn’t familiar with design. There is probably something wrong with this icon if they haven’t figured out what it approximately represents. - Perspicuity and usefulness
Users despise items they don’t comprehend. It’s necessary to “decrypt” an ambiguous icon, and people don’t enjoy it. This is also a significant drawback if it has no significance. The icon’s main purpose is to convey information quickly. - Consistency in style
Users dislike things that are out of tune. This is the case when people are unable to articulate why they dislike the icon. Intuitively, we all sense discord. The unification of style is the key to achieving harmony. - Individuality
The icon set’s uniqueness and the uniqueness of each individual icon are the two sorts of uniqueness. Make use of well-known metaphors but give them a new visual interpretation. Users prefer not to solve riddles. - Visual harmony
The icons that are optically imbalanced are the ones that users dislike at first glance. People naturally sense imbalance and react to it without even looking at the image.
Summary
Designers are well aware of the numerous requirements that are imposed on icons. As a result, they are constantly striving to improve them, polishing every detail and counting every pixel. We are in no way urging you to refrain from doing so. We only wish to emphasise that these efforts are futile if the fundamental principles of symbol creation are disregarded.
